It’s time for a pop quiz:

Who killed Goliath?

Let’s consult theology to see if your answer, David, is correct…or if Elhanan killed him. (Most Christians you talk to will have no idea who Elhanan is!)

Modern theologians have produced – and highly recommend – the NAS Bible version. It says:

NAS 2 Sa 21:19: “…Elhanan…killed Goliath.”

Theologians hate the KJV because it dares to contradict them by boldly declaring:

KJV 2 Sa 21:19: “…Elhanan…slew the brother of Goliath.”

Theologians aren’t stupid; they have reasons for the things they do – and this is where REASON and FAITH clash. In a nutshell (for a full treatment of this topic see Chapter D22) theologians think we shouldn’t accept by faith what God says in the Bible about His holy word – that He has preserved its inerrancy for us today. Most Bible manuscripts on earth today have provable errors in them – such as the above “Elhanan killed Goliath” error. Those errors have convinced theologians that God has not preserved His inerrant word for us as He claimed He would. Therefore they reasonably conclude they should go back to the roots (the old Greek and Hebrew manuscripts), and to archeology, and to historical research, etc. in an effort to find out as close as we can what God might have said way back then.

Unfortunately for theology, during the last 150 years of “higher textual criticism” the best Bible versions that theologians have been able to produce are – like the NAS above – full of errors! I say again, in spite of the fact that Reasonable Christians who believe in theology would like you to think they’re smart when they constantly “correct” God’s Book by saying, “Well, that word is an unfortunate rendering; it really should say…”, the damning results of their myriad “corrections” have been 1) the many modern Bible versions that are so ridiculously full of errors that, 2) most Christians have concluded it isn’t worth studying the Bible – any Bible – anymore because who knows what God really said: why study a book you can’t really trust?

How then can Bible believers exist in this modern age of reason? How can modern Christians still believe God’s inspired and inerrant word is available to us today? And why is the King James Bible the only book or manuscript on earth that God’s people always single out as the incorrupt word of God?

Faith is the answer. We believe – because God says in His Book that He’d preserve His inerrant word for us – that He has done exactly that, and therefore somewhere on this planet His Holy Bible not only exists, it is readily available to us. But how to know which Bible version or manuscript might be His preserved word? Again, faith is the answer: All we do is compare the old manuscripts and the various Bible versions to see which one of them, if any, meets God’s own definition of His word – inerrancy. In other words, if we find provable errors in a book or manuscript we junk it. And since the KJV is the only Book on earth with no errors we by faith accept it as the authoritative word of God.

In other words, while theologians are stubbornly going back to the old manuscript roots, we men of faith have been taking the Lord at His word by knowing His work by its fruit – inerrancy.

Without faith it is impossible to please Him.

The American Founding Fathers Took

Advantage of Theology’s Refusal

To Take the Bible Literally

In order to convince British colonial Christians in the 13 North American colonies it was OK to rebel against their own Christian king, King George III, the U.S. Founding Fathers had to deal with the Authorized 1611 King James Bible, which says – if you take it literally – it is damnable wickedness to rebel against any authority – whether that authority is good and right or if the authority is “froward” (evil, harmful, wicked, or wrong):

Romans 13: Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation…Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also…

1 Peter 2,3: Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him…be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward…Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands…

They did so by wholeheartedly embracing (and reprinting and distributing by the thousands) a sermon preached in 1750 by Rev. Jonathan Mayhew at age 29. Mayhew was a theologian graduate of Harvard College, but he was so radically liberal in his treatment of the Bible that when he was to be ordained pastor of Boston’s West Church, most preachers who were invited to participate in the ordination refused to show up – and the ceremony was put off until enough liberal preachers could be found. Mayhew’s sermon was so popular, and it so revolutionized Christian thinking about rebellion against authority, that it is known as one of the most influential sermons in Christian history.

I’ll summarize Mayhew’s sermon (in yellow), which he delivered on the anniversary of the beheading of King James’ son, King Charles I, by Oliver Cromwell in 1649: Yes, the Bible literally says we shouldn’t rebel against the governmental authorities over us, and yes, the Bible seems to state that absolutely, which ordinarily would mean we should even obey evil rulers or be damned. (Mayhew used only the Romans verses above; he did not use the 1 Peter verses.) But the Apostle Paul was a good reasonable man, and he would therefore not expect us to submit to evil treatment by our rulers – because that would be wicked, and Paul would never want us to be wicked. In fact, because it would be helping evil rulers if we submit to them, it is reasonable to assume the Bible actually says those who do not resist King George III and Parliament for taxing us without our consent will be damned. (Mayhew is the one who invented the slogan, “No taxation without representation”, which was popular in spite of the fact that taxation by a king without his subjects’ representation or consent is explicitly authorized by God in 1 Sam 8:10-17, which says: And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.)

The Founding Fathers loved Mayhew’s theology. (To see how popular he still is today, use your search engine to look him up. Many preachers today love his position so much they actually have web sites devoted to him!) John Adams called him “the morning gun of the Revolution” and a “transcendent genius.”

To see how popular it became to think Romans 13 says God likes it when we rebel against rulers we decide are bad, view this popular Revolutionary War flag.

And for a real shocker, look at this popular theology-inspired needlework, created about 1770.

The needlework shows that theology had so convinced Christians that monarchy is evil that they even considered King David to be an evil tyrant who needed to be overthrown. David is shown sitting in the lap of luxury idly strumming his harp completely unconcerned about the welfare of his people. David represents King George III. David’s wicked son, Absalom (a type of Lucifer), who led a popular revolt against David, is shown hanging in the tree in colonial garb – representing the good colonists who rebel against their king. And David’s general, Joab, who is dressed as a redcoat officer, represents the hated British military.

A tribute to Mayhew, who died at age 45.

The Lord Jesus Christ on

Rev. Mayhew’s Theology and

Taking the Bible Literally

The following sentence is an exact quote from Mayhew’s sermon that sums up his position:

“And the apostle here we find to be not in favor of submission to all rulers, but only to those who actually rule properly by exercising a Reasonable and Just authority for the good of human society.”

Now we’ll see if the Lord Jesus Christ supports the theological position popularized by Rev. Mayhew and the American Founding Fathers…and enthusiastically endorsed by almost all Christian denominations today. We’ll use the Pharisees as an example because they were more evil than anyone ever thought King George was:

•  The Pharisees were rulers of human society (Jn 3:1).

• Christ knew they were evil vipers (Mt 12:34) who transgressed the Bible, worshipped God in vain, and were blind rulers leading human society into the ditch (Mt 15:3,9,14) with false doctrine (Mt 16:6,12).

• These evil rulers ruined the earthly lives of people, took people to hell with them, and were full of extortion, excess, uncleanness, hypocrisy, and iniquity (Mt 23:14,15,25-28).

• They murdered their own people, were of the devil, and were liars (Jn 8:40,44,55).

Knowing how bad these rulers were, the Lord commanded the Christian multitude (Mt 23:1) to submissively and obediently do all and whatsoever the evil rulers said (Mt 23:3). The second word in v.3 will tell you why it was right for Christians to submit to evil rulers; the word therefore refers to v.2, which says the evil rulers were to be obeyed because they were in positions of authority. All authority is of God and is to be obeyed. And then Christ went on to teach people to obey those evil rulers but not to be like them.

Obviously, Rev. Mayhew and his theology teachers missed/ignored verses like these that not only show that we are to take the Lord at His word – literally, but that also destroy the arguments for and the revolutionary tenants of democracy. And so have all the preachers and pewsters since. That is why Mayhew’s false doctrine of just-cause clamoring and rebellion (which springs from covetousness) has survived, thrived, and become gospel to all modern churches – including the one you attend.

In order to not be like evil preachers we must “search the Scriptures daily, whether their teachings be so” (Ac 17:11), because not only does God punish false prophets (Je 14:14,15), He also punishes those who hear them (Je 14:16).